[Rhodes22-list] Tennessee now in the ethanol business (political)

[Brad Haslett]

Mike,

They've been working on that process at the Oak Ridge Lab for several
years.  Glad to see Dupont get behind it with some $$$$. Gov. Bredesen is a
sharp cookie and one of the guys I crossed the ticket to vote for.  He'd be
a great candidate for the Dem's to run for POTUS. I liked what he said about
corn ethanol being "political eye wash", that about sums it up.

Brad

On Thu, Jul 24, 2008 at 11:06 AM, Michael D. Weisner <mweisner at ebsmed.com>
wrote:

> Brad,
>
> In addition to VW it seems that the governor left the door open for the
> ethanol folks:
>
> http://tinyurl.com/5ny7pd
>
> or the original USA Today link:
>
>
> http://www.usatoday.com/money/industries/energy/environment/2008-07-23-ethanol-cellulosic_N.htm?csp=DailyBriefing
>
> Mike
> s/v Shanghai'd Summer ('81)
> Nissequogue River, NY
>
> Cellulosic ethanol plants planned in Tennessee
>
> DuPont (DD) and Genencor, a unit of Denmark's Danisco, said Wednesday that
> they will break ground this fall on a 250,000 gallon cellulosic ethanol
> pilot plant in Tennessee.
> Ethanol should be available from the pilot plant by December 2009, with
> commercial-scale production by 2012, the companies said.
>
> Tennessee Gov. Phil Bredesen said Wednesday he thought "the nicest thing
> you can possibly say" about corn-based ethanol is that it is "transitional"
> technology.
>
> "It really is much more about political eye wash ... trying to do something
> about the energy crisis. It has very little to recommend it over the long
> term," Bredesen said. "I think that cellulosic ethanol in contrast has a
> great deal to recommend it over the long term. That is where I am trying to
> emphasize us putting our weight and our money."
>
> The companies said the pilot plant will initially process western Tennessee
> corn cobs into ethanol but plans to shift to switchgrass for conversion to
> ethanol, working with Tennessee farmers as dedicated switchgrass suppliers.
> The university has also invested state research dollars toward the
> development of switchgrass.
>
> "The high cellulosic content of switchgrass makes it an optimal feedstock
> for ethanol production," said DuPont Danisco Technology Leader John Pierce
> in a statement. "Its yields today make it more than competitive with other
> biomass sources, and it has the potential to produce over 1,000 gallons of
> ethanol per acre in the future."
>
> There are about 1.5 million acres in Tennessee seen as unsuitable for
> growing food crops but good for switchgrass, officials said.
>
> The cost of producing cellulosic ethanol is still much higher than making
> corn-based ethanol, and several U.S. companies are in a race to drive down
> the costs making the fuel for what is estimated to be a $75 billion global
> market opportunity.
>
> DuPont Danisco Cellulosic Ethanol will link DuPont's cellulosic
> pre-treatment and fermentation technologies with Genencor's enzymes to
> develop the ethanol production process.
>
> The project will make use of about $40 million in Tennessee state funding.
> The companies said they planned an initial three-year investment of $140
> million.
>
> Cellulosic ethanol has the same properties as corn-based ethanol but can be
> derived from the nonedible parts of a corn plant, rather than the corn
> kernels. Sugar cane bagasse, wood shavings, switchgrass and other such
> materials can also be harnessed to produce ethanol.
>
> DuPont's Pierce said Wednesday in a news conference that corn ethanol had
> paved the way for rapid growth of cellulosic ethanol.
>
> "It (corn ethanol) has formed the basis for investment and a whole
> infrastructure that we are going to move into with cellulosic based
> ethanol," Pierce said.
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